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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Buying GATs

Generic Archetype Abilities

Generic Archetype Traits (called GATs) are unusual, special,
or exceptional abilities that are both not specific to any particular genre and
fall into the category of not-quite-super powers. As a general rule they are
available in any game where you have APs although checking with the GM and
other players is always a good idea.

GATS And Super Powers (And the Meta Game)

Generic Archetype Abilities are meant to be used to build
“heroic” characters for various genres of fiction (for bullet-dodging
higher-powered ‘action heroes’ also look at the Fast Company chapter). Using
these rules, and with enough APs you can be quite a bit more than humanly
possible.

This raises some questions about what exactly a Generic
Archetype Trait is. In this section we sell:

vExtra size and strength. If you buy enough of it
you will be stronger than any human who has ever been measured.

vExtra Toughness and actual armor. If you
interpret this literally as an innate ability it would mean, for example, armored
skin or that the character is able to absorb bullet fire without (much)
consequence.

vAbilities explicitly described as equipment
(“Chainmail”). This could mean paying APs for “mundane equipment”—something
that usually doesn’t happen for most
games.

vExtreme abilities such as the ability to unleash
flurries of attacks or a “hail of bullets.” You can also buy the ability to
apply your full Dodge roll against ranged attacks (bullets and lasers)—this is
likely to fall into the category of a “super power” in many people’s minds.

So what does this all mean? Are GATs super powers or not?
Are they equipment? Can you actually have a “normal person” being armored with the GAT “Tank”?

Here is our thinking:

1.One of our goals with GATs was to take a set of
abilities that many games would like
to use (and which didn’t have a specific flavor) and put them all together in
one place for convenience. We left actual super powers (like “teleport”) for
the Powers chapter—but even so, some things (such as Armor as given in the
ability “Tank”) are listed here because there are a lot of conditions where a
character might have the Armor ability, you might want to track it with APs,
and we wanted a “Generic” version of Armor in a centralized place where you
would likely go looking for it.

2.The interpretation of a GAT is left up to the
players and can change from game to game or even between characters in the same
game. Take a character with 8 / 40 Armor bought as a GAT. In one game that
would be a literal super power (armored skin!). In another game it might be
that the character is just “really, really tough.” In yet another game, the
armor-effect could be defined as luck—attacks
always seem to “miss” or “don’t get a good hit” or whatever. In many games that
ability wouldn’t be legal if the characters aren’t allowed to have abilities
like that. Finally: it might be worn armor if that piece of gear was not
normally available to the characters without their spending APs for it. How the
in-game fiction treats things can be quite different from how the mechanics
treat these. That said, we expect more literal game than a less literal one—the
“luck” interpretation could get hard to explain after a while. Also note: we have specified some GATs as extreme meaning that they are not
available when playing with either low numbers of APs or more “mundane” games.

3.A GAT can
indicate equipment. We included GATs that read like equipment even though
characters don’t usually pay APs for mundane equipment and even though there
are more detailed equipment rules later on. We did this because of the way that
weapons work when they are bought (The “Level 1” vs. “Level +” Costs for
damage). We wanted a (small) section of GATs that would buy damage at the Level
1 cost so that if players were playing a game where they were expected to pay
APs for weapons the rules would be centralized. We described these as weapons
and armor even though they could represent other things in a given game.

A Final Note On GAT
Names: We’ve tried to give the GATs somewhat colorful names because it’s
more interesting and they are “generic” already. Just because a GAT has a
specific name doesn’t mean that’s the only way it can be interpreted. Usually
the mechanical effect can be attributed to many different things. Work with the
GM and other players to determine what is appropriate for a given game.

Covered In This Section:

Here’s what this chapter covers:

vCombat
GATS and “Non-Combat GATS:” We have divided the GAT list into two basic
sections called Combat GATS (abilities that primarily improve your ability to
fight or physical prowess) and Non-Combat GATS which do something else (like
let you find clues or be a super scientist). The complexity here is that even
“Non-Combat GATS” often have some
element that can improve your ability in a fight. Many give extra Damage Points
and some give Success Point Pools that can be used in combat as well as for
other things. The distinction is usually around how dedicated the Generic
Archetype Ability is to improving your combat ability and not “whether it
improves it at all.”

vHow GATs
Are Described: How GATS are described and what specific GAT notations mean.
This section covers the two basic ways GATS are sold. The first is simply a fixed AP cost of, usually, 4 or 8 AP
per level of the GAT. The other is a “Total Archetype Point” Cost-table where
the cost of the GAT is based on the Total AP of the character (so a 40 AP
character pays more than an 8 AP character).

vGAT
Bonuses: The different things a GAT may provide and how to manage them.

vEquipment
GATS: We spend a bit of time talking about Generic Archetype Abilities that
are described as equipment (so you might see a GAT listed as “Chainmail.” Most
GATS are simply innate abilities and, depending on how the game is being
interpreted, even something described as “Gun and [Bulletproof] Vest” might, in
some games, be, like, a super power or something. However we have included a
short list of equipment-style GATS (especially for weapons) because it’ll help
get some games going faster. There are more extensive equipment rules later in
the book that you should look at if you are having trouble deciding if a
character or game ought to have Equipment GATs in use.

oBuffs: GATs
that improve other character’s abilities. You “aid your party members” with
these.

oCombat
Enhancers / Unlocks: Some GATS don’t take effect until certain conditions
in combat are met such as you block someone a few times (to learn their
striking style) or you take damage, or so on.

oThe 8 AP
Game: Although almost all GATS are legal when other Archetype Traits are
legal that doesn’t mean all GATS are legal in every game. Some GATS are labeled
“Extreme” and should be prohibited if the flavor of the game is meant to be
grittier or more mundane.

Combat GATs and Non-Combat GATs

The two major sections of this chapter are Combat GATs and
Non-Combat GATs. As the names imply, Combat GATs are primarily concerned with
physical toughness, combat ability, and so on. They represent things like
special training, extreme physical prowess, unusual toughness, special moves,
and so on. It should be noted, however, that even “Non-Combat GATs” often give
extra Damage Points (which are certainly useful in combat) or even Success
Point Pools (see below) which can be used in a fight. Some even primarily give what could be considered
combat abilities (such as extreme vehicular skills which could be applied to
flying a fighter plane).

What gives?

The distinction is important because Non-Combat GATs usually
have a primary focus that isn’t on
Combat or, if it is, it is usually for a very specific element of combat (such
as in the vehicular example). When Non-Combat GATS grant some “combat ability”
they usually aren’t as good as the Combat GATs for the same points (for
example: a Combat GAT Success Point Pool is usually full charged at the
beginning of every combat—a
Non-Combat SP Pool might only charge up once per game session).

If you are playing with optional rules about APs that can
“only be spent for Combat things” vs. APs that will be spent on “Non-Combat
things” (see Point Partitioning in the back of the book) then Combat GATS
always count as Combat-abilities and Non-Combat GATs, even if they help with
Combat in some ways, don’t.

How GATs Are Described

The basic GAT formats look like this

Vital Strike

Level [8,4 AP]

L+

Description:
You’ve been trained to strike vital locations (veins? nerve clusters? Vital
organs?). On a hit by 6+ you add the listed damage to your attack! On a hit
by +0 to +5 the vital-strike has no effect.

Trait

Buy

Cost

A-Cost

Damage

Vital
Strike – Punch (HTH IMP)

M

8 AP

+8
AP

+18
IMP

Vital
Strike – Sword (HTH PEN)

M

8 AP

+8
AP

+13
PEN

Vital
Shot – Gun (RNG PEN)

M

8 AP

+8
AP

+10
PEN

Vital
Shot – Blaster (RNG IMP)

M

8 AP

+8
AP

+12
IMP

Vital
Strike – Punch (HTH IMP)

1

4 AP

+4
AP

+9
IMP

Vital
Strike – Sword (HTH PEN)

1

4 AP

+4
AP

+7
PEN

Vital
Strike – Gun (RNG PEN)

1

4 AP

+4
AP

+5
PEN

Vital
Strike – Blaster (RNG IMP)

1

4 AP

+4
AP

+6
IMP

Name (Vital Strike): The name of the GAT. Note
that many GATs have colorful names but the actual in-game representation
could differ greatly.

Purchase Type (Level [8,4
AP]): This
is a Fixed Cost GAT. It is purchased in Levels costing either 4 or 8 AP and
the character can buy multiple levels.

Attack-Buy (L+): This GAT (and, indeed, all
GATs other than the yellow ones) buy damage at the Level-Plus Rate rather
than the Level-1 rate. This means that the damage added by Vital Strike can
be added to whatever attack is appropriate.

Buy Column (‘1’, ‘2’, or
‘M’): This
column indicates how many times the trait can be purchased for a given
character. Usually the numbers are ‘1’ or ‘M’ where ‘M’ indicates Multiple
(the character can have as many levels of the GAT as they have points for).

A-Cost Column (+X AP): Attack Cost is explained
in detail in Chapter 1. In this case the ‘+’ means that the attack adds to a
chain of attacks (Vital Strike must be paired with another attack of the
appropriate type—even if it’s just a regular unarmed punch) and adds the
listed AP cost to the “total cost” of that attack.

Unarmed

Level [8,4 AP]

L1

Description:
You can kill with your bare hands! This GAT allows you to buy L1 “weapon”
style damage for barehanded attacks. This is probably due to extreme
training of some sort but could be natural talent or something even
weirder.

Trait

Buy

Cost

A-Cost

Weapon

My
Body Is My Weapon

1

8 AP

+8
AP

+16
Unarmed (HTH IMP) Damage

Deadly
Hands!

2

4 AP

+4
AP

+8
Unarmed (HTH IMP) Damage

Purchase Type (L1): This (and the yellow
color) indicates that the damage done is bought at the Level-1 Rate. Any
attack the character launches can only
have one Level 1 set of damage in its Chain (see Chapter 1).

As
explained in Chapter 1, 8 AP spent on Unarmed will yield more damage per AP
than 8 AP spent

Hard Core

TAP [.08,.08, .07]+3AP

Description:
You are tough! You double your Hurt Condition. This does not affect Minor
Wound Score.

vThe character gains +12 DP

Trait

8

16

24

32

40

48

56

64+

Hard
Core

4

4

5

6

6

7

7

7

Total Archetype Point Cost
(TAP [.08,.08,.07]+3): This (and the red color) indicates that the GAT’s cost in APs is
based on the character’s Total AP cost. If the character is built on 40 AP’s,
“Hard Core” costs 3 APs. If the character is built on 16 AP’s, though, it only
costs 1 AP. What, exactly, the numbers mean is detailed in the back of the
book.

Note:
TAP cost items can only ever be purchased once.

Buying a Level GAT

A wandering swordsman has 24 APs to spend and decides
spend 12 APs on Sword Saint. The Type is listed as Level [4 AP] meaning it is
sold at 4 AP per level. Each level gives +3 Sword Damage and +6 ADP. The
character will deal +9 PEN damage with a sword blow (above whatever they get
for their STR and the sword itself) and has +18 Ablative Damage Points.

Buying a TAP GAT

The wandering swordsman then decides to buy some Expertise
GATs. The player selects Level 3 Expertise (+3 Skill, +3 Init) and checks the
Cost Chart for 24 AP: 9 AP. The character has spent 12 AP on Sword Saint and
now has spent 9 AP on +3 Expertise. The player applies the +3 Skill to their
Melee Weapon skill moving it from a respectable 14- to an awesome 17- ! The character now
has spent 21 AP and has 3 AP remaining.

The character invests the remainder in ADP, getting +18
APD for 3 AP.

Applying GAT Bonuses

Most a GAT may be bought is based on the GAT Type in the
header. Here’s what they mean:

Bonus Type

Applying The Bonus

The Four Basic Damage Types: ‘Sword,’
‘Gun’, ’Blaster’, and ‘Punch’

Often you will see combat GATs
that give a bonus to a specific “Damage Type.” There are four basic types—the
names here are descriptive only (‘Sword’ could be knife, claws, teeth,
pincer, etc.):

vHand
to Hand PEN Damage (Sword)

vHand
to Hand IMP Damage (Punch)

vRanged
PEN Damage (Gun)

vRanged
IMP Damage (Blaster)

When buying a damage bonus you
get the listed numerical increase (e.g. +2 Ranged PEN Damage per level) with
the listed damage type (Guns, thrown knives, lasers, any Ranged attack that
does PEN damage).

This damage bonus can be used
with any attack the character has of the appropriate type (so +2 RANGED PEN
will help with thrown knives or guns but not with a blaster or a punch or a
sword-blow).

STR, BLD, DP, Armor, ADP,
Damage (any sort)

Each level of a GAT that increases these adds its increase
to the character’s stat. If you have a GAT that gives +2 STR, +5 BLD, and +8
DP per level and purchase 3 levels of it, the character has +6 STR, +15 BLD,
and +24 DP.

When a GAT or any other archetype ability increases one of these you only
use the single highest increase from any source. Furthermore, if a GAT
increases one of these (as Built gives +1 CON), even if you buy more than one
level you only get the bonus once.
So if you have a Cyber Heart (+2 CON) and you want to buy Built (+1 CON) you
will not get the +1 CON Bonus for
Built and should probably look into some other GAT.

NOTE: The bonuses are added
“after” all figured stats are computed. Getting extra CON from a GAT
increases your CON Roll but will not also
increase your Damage Points the way it would if it were purchased using
Character Points and the Resilient Trait.

Pluses to Skill Rolls

Some GATs give +1 or more to Skill Rolls. These bonuses
are added to a specific skill (i.e. a combat skill or, perhaps, a science
skill, etc.) and may only be added to one specific skill. The plus to the
roll is added “after” the roll is purchased (so the cost to increase the
skill roll is based on the level the character paid for in CP and not the combined roll of CP + Bonuses)

Success Point Pools

Success Point Pools (SP Pools)
are listed in the form of X/Y [Type]. The value ‘X’ is the total-points in
the pool when it is full. The value ‘Y’ is the “threshold” or number of SPs
from the pool that can be spent on any one roll. The TYPE is usually
OFFENSIVE, DEFENSIVE, EITHER, or NON-COMBAT. An example is 10/4 Offensive—the
pool has 10 SPs when full, the player can spend up to 4 on any given roll that
is being modified, and they may only be spent on OFFENSIVE rolls.

Special Bonus

A listed Special Bonus (such as extra CP for Appearance)
is handled by the specific rules (no more than L4 appearance for Bronzed, for
example).

Damage Points/ADP

Many GATs give extra DP or ADP
even if they are not a Combat GAT and even if they seem to have nothing to do
with being physically tougher. This is done for various reasons (such as
rounding out the point values).

Extra Attacks

If a GAT gives “extra attacks” (+1 Attack, +2 Attack,
etc.) that means a 5 REA attack (strike or shot) may be launched for 1 REA.
Special moves that increase the REA cost of the attack may be launched for
1+the extra cost. Kicks can be launched for 2 REA.

Back of The Book - Success Point Pools

Characters with SP Pools can use them in a few
specific ways if you are employing the
advanced rules. In the back of the book we go into this in detail. Here are some of the basics.

Bidding Wars:
If several characters with a stake in a die roll have SP Pools they may all
spend SPs against (or in favor of) each other. When this is the case, the
player making the roll will start by
declaring an SP point spend (“I increase by Armor Save by +2, spending 2
SPs”) and then other players may spend for or against going around the table.
If the asking goes around once with no one changing their spend then the roll
happens. All SPs declared are spent and once a spend is declared you can’t
get them back if someone out-bids you.

When You Spend:
Usually you have to “make your roll” to be able to spend SPs on it at all.
There are a few exceptions to this (Armor Save spends). It’s also the case
that sometimes you have to declare before
the roll is made but other times you can declare after it is made. Here are
the basics:

Armor Save:
Spending 1 SP before an Armor Save is made can increase the Armor Save
roll (Defensive spend) or reduce it (Offensive Spend). Usually only
characters who are involved in the attack (the attacker or the target) can
spend SPs on an armor save unless someone has a special ability “lend
points.” If characters are working against each other this may result in
bidding.

Initiative: If
an un-modified Initiative roll is made successfully then SPs can be spent to
increase the amount it was made by, thus making the character go faster in
the Round order. These points are spent after the roll is made and may result
in bidding.

Block/Dodge Rolls:
Characters with Defensive Pools can spend SPs to increase their Block/Dodge
rolls. The roll must have been made—but, if it was not made by enough the
player may spend SPs to increase the amount made by in order to successfully
avoid the attack.

Hit-By Rolls:
After a to-hit roll is made, if it was made as an un-modified roll, the
player can spend SPs to improve the amount hit-by. This adds to the Damage
Modifier roll and counts for getting around blocks/dodges.

Equipment GATs

There is a section of combat GATs called “Weapons and Armor”
which provide weapon-like effects (“Broadsword, 6 PEN HTH Damage”) and have
equipment-like names. Here is what you should know about these:

1.They are included here for simplicity if you are
playing a game where you are expected to pay AP for weapons and armor (such as
a super hero, super-martial artist, super-spy, or similar game). There is a
more complete weapons listing in the back of the book.

2.They may
represent some kind of paranormal or mutant ability (especially the armor) if
your character is allowed to have those: we usually don’t say how a specific effect must be portrayed
in the game so if you buy “Sword” but work with the GM to allow it to be a
martial-arts ‘spear hand’ that’s okay (note: there may be some better moves for
that sort of thing in the Chi Martial Arts section—but, again, we’ve listed
these here for simplicity).

3.Weapon GATs buy L1 Damage (and can usually only
be bought once). Other GATs buy at the L+ rate (fewer points of damage per AP)
and can be bought multiple times. If you are using the GATs to create
characters who will use APs for their attacks, you should consider investing 8
AP in one of these GATs so as to take advantage of the L1 damage rate.

Buying Equipment
GATs and Other GATs

A player is making a 32 AP “gunslinger” in a
post-apocalyptic game where most people don’t have any access to firearms.
The players are told the rules for the game require them to pay APs for
attacks if they wish to have them. The character pays 8 AP for the Equipment
GAT Magnum which gives an 11 PEN gun (buying at the L1 cost) and then buys
two levels of Gunslinger for an additional 8 AP getting +2 PEN damage (at the
L+ rate) per level of Gunslinger as +4 ADP per level for a total of +4 PEN
Damage (final damage with the gun: 15 PEN per shot) and 8 ADP.

Success Point Pools

Several of the GATs provide Success Point Pools (SPs). These
are groups of SPs that can either be used for a specific purpose (as noted by
the rules) or anything the character wants (some can even be given to other
PCs—a violation of the “generic” Success Point rules!”). The specific GAT will
tell when these pools refresh: usually either every combat or once per game
session. In the latter case, the GM can declare that the pool has refreshed if
a sufficient length of time has passed in the game (a day, usually).

Meta-Game: How
Supernatural are GATs?

One of the things your group may want to think about is
how “supernatural” GATs are. Certainly at high enough APs (24+) you start
seeing characters who can easily absorb a bullet without too much trouble. We
also don’t say precisely what certain things represent (ADP could be raw
physical toughness, reliable luck, a convention where the character just
“isn’t hit directly,” and so on). We don’t go into detail on this because
different games, even with the same participants, will often work in
different ways.

Success Points are usually not something a character will be aware of (unless the
character is in a ‘video game’ reality or some such). They may, of course,
‘feel lucky’ or the in-game effect of loaning another character Success
Points could be handled by the character shouting advice or even just being
moral support—but however it is handled the specifics are up to the group.

As such it is possible to take two characters with exactly
the same list of GATs (such as the gunslinger in the example above) and interpret
them in two different ways. When the PC pays APs for an ability the
convention is that it can’t be permanently removed and won’t be duplicated
by others without the points. If, in
the above game, the characters are captured they can temporarily take the PCs
gun—but the character can’t permanently
lose it. If they throw it off a cliff they’ll get another one somehow and
the GM and player should work together to have that make sense.

It could also be interpreted as a mystical ability (even though there is a separate magic section
and that would be a better choice for games where magic is an option). In
this case the ability to project damage is innate. Our take on these abilities is that they are usually on the ‘mundane’ side but
don’t have to be.

Buffs and “Unlock” GATS

Some GATs allow you to “lend” your bonus to others as well
as yourself. These are called Buffs (they “buff up” your teammates). Others
only take effect when they are ‘triggered’ or ‘unlocked.’

Buffs

Buff GATS can give bonuses to “everyone on your team,”
characters who you lend the bonus to for no REA cost, or characters who you
“lend the bonus to” for a listed REA cost. Exactly how these work “in game”
will be up to the players. Lending SPs could be in the form of yelling advice,
training, etc. Usually the effect is limited to less than 10 people and the
distance that the advantage can be loaned is usually limited to a single field
of battle. If playing with armies or the PC is a commander of troops then
specialized GATs for that purpose will be more appropriate.

Unlocks

Unlocks, as stated above, are bonuses that only come into
play after some condition is met (such as a number of Rounds of combat have
passed or the character has been damaged, or so on). Usually an Unlock ability
is usable immediately when the condition is hit and remains for the rest of the
combat.